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General Discussion => Share Your Badassity => Topic started by: Stache it Away on January 08, 2016, 11:08:11 PM

Title: Used a bike for school laundry day
Post by: Stache it Away on January 08, 2016, 11:08:11 PM
I forgot that today was our day at preschool to do laundry for the week.  Since we bike our 2 year old to school the teacher asked me if I wanted to bike home and come back with a car.  My first thought was that I didn't need a climate-controlled, motorized throne to move two baskets of laundry.  I was asked multiple times if we needed help or even if someone should follow us home in their car with the laundry by some very nice parents and teachers at school. 

Even though i was surprised by having to take laundry home I am always prepared with bungee cords in my saddle bag in case we need to transport something that can't fit in our kids "chariot".  I packed up the trailer and strapped the basket on the rear rack and we went home without incident. 

On the way home I started to wonder if any of the hundred or so people who saw me thought that it was awesome that someone was using their own power to move goods that most people would use a machine for.  I was pretty sure this wasn't the case so I thought that I would share on here where people would understand that we bike to work and school because we enjoy it and because we can.  Also any time we do something using our own physical abilities we feel empowered and liberated.



Title: Re: Used a bike for school laundry day
Post by: ahoy on January 09, 2016, 12:27:53 AM
Well done!  Great that you didn't take the easy road (getting your car) and you came up with a solution.  this kind of thing makes me feel good too, when you think outside the box.
Title: Re: Used a bike for school laundry day
Post by: meghan88 on January 18, 2016, 04:49:24 PM
On the way home I started to wonder if any of the hundred or so people who saw me thought that it was awesome that someone was using their own power to move goods that most people would use a machine for.  I was pretty sure this wasn't the case so I thought that I would share on here where people would understand that we bike to work and school because we enjoy it and because we can.  Also any time we do something using our own physical abilities we feel empowered and liberated.

Sad, but true - most people who saw you would feel sorry for you, and not realize how empowering and liberating it actually is.

I, in turn, would feel sorry for them.  Do they drive to work, or do they work to drive?
Title: Re: Used a bike for school laundry day
Post by: Stache it Away on January 20, 2016, 09:34:50 AM
Thanks for the support.  I hope our little girl ends up appreciating all that she has.  We have two cars and interestingly enough we value them more after reading MMM than we did before.  We use them so rarely that when we do, we appreciate the extreme luxury they provide. 

On a side note we got about 3 to 4 inches of snow yesterday.  Schools were closed because the roads were so bad (if you're from up north feel free to laugh).  Daycare was still open so I decided to run to work with our running stroller since it probably wouldn't have worked well biking with a trailer.  Was a BEAUTIFUL run this morning!
Title: Re: Used a bike for school laundry day
Post by: HenryDavid on January 20, 2016, 01:07:25 PM
When I lived in a condo without my own washing machine, I would chuck my stuff in a big backpack and bike to the laundromat . . . slithering through the slush in winter. While the machines ran I would grade student essays (I was teaching college English). One time I was queried by a fellow launderer about why "a professor didn't have a car." Ha. By choice!

All in all it was an efficient way to get 2 things done at once, and get some exercise and fresh air. Without the least need for a car.
Oh, and the for-sale ads in laundromats can be great. I got a really cheap and good electric guitar from a bulletin board ad there.